I know, I know… some of you are tired of reading my reviews that wax eloquently about my deep & abiding love for all things Heroscape. I apologize in advance – this isn’t going to be a substantial departure from my previous missives. Once again, let me note for those of you who’ve been living under a gaming rock for 21 years that Heroscape is a miniatures skirmish combat game played on a board constructed out of plastic terrain pieces. Since the theme is a battle for dominance in world where the Valkyrie Generals can recruit warriors from multiple times & dimensions, there is a wil ..read more

I'm not the first to notice the jarring juxtaposition of celebrating the life & work of Martin Luther King Jr. on the same day as the inauguration of Donald Trump. I've written extensively about my concerns & fears about Mr. Trump's fitness for public office and his "moneychangers in the Temple" attitude toward the Christian faith.  Let me share some thoughts on this day and what it means to those of us who claim a faith in Jesus Christ. "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." (MLK Jr) It may be difficult to hear those words over the noise of ..read more

Hey, campers... I may have stopped collecting the Five & Dime stats for everyone else - but I haven't stopped collecting my own! Here's my own personal Five & Dime list (the games I played 5+ and 10+ times in 2024). As always, I include only face-to-face games and games played with human opponents over apps/online. What that means is that games that I play only solo via an app or website (examples: Next Station: London, Ascension, Draft & Write Records, etc.) are not counted. (All three of those would be 50+ plays if I did.) Games with an asterisk [*] were o ..read more

Over the past couple of months, I've written a number of posts about the multitude of reasons I believe that President-elect Trump is a spectacularly bad choice to lead the United States for the next four years. The fact that he was elected last week does not lessen my concerns. What follows is a hodge-podge of thoughts and quotes... a virtual download of my fears and frustrations. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this victory for a convicted felon... and, when I'm honest with myself, attempting to trust God with it as well. Moreover, it's not as simple as "love God, hate Trump" or ..read more

This post was originally written for Election Day in 2008... and I present it again with some edits because it still applies.  I know that some of you have been thinking, "Hey, I get to game on a regular basis with folks who put up with my foibles & quirks... I wonder if there's a good way to make sure they hate my guts & either boot my rear end out of the group and/or change meeting places & times so that I can never find them again?"   Well, I'm planning to answer the question for you. In fact, I'm so concerned that you not overly tax your mental faculties (seei ..read more

The best man at my wedding (the wonderful Tim Formby, who is substantially more fit at age 60 than I will ever be) grew up in the east Texas town of Corsicana. (If you've heard of Corsicana, it's probably because of Collin Street Bakery... which ships fruitcakes all over the world.) Kids my age grew up during the Cold War... where pretty much every bad guy on TV shows were Soviet spies and movies like RED DAWN informed our worldview. For Tim & his friends, that meant long discussions about how to defend Corsicana in case of the U.S.S.R. sending troops to invade the U.S. of A. Questions l ..read more

This is the tenth in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role. Weirdly enough, this was the first post I started in this series... and it's likely the last before Election Day. Originally, it was an epic roll through the Trump Tower Moscow, the first Trump impeachment, etc... but I finally decided it was more powerful to keep it simple. Ukraine It's not a difficult question.  You hav ..read more

This is the ninth in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role. ...well, for me, the first job I remember wanting was as a construction worker. That is, until I watched my uncles rebuilding a barn destroyed by a tornado, walking the beam 2-3 stories in the air as if it was no big deal. (I have mild acrophobia - it's a big deal for me.) Then I wanted to be a lawyer - probably because I'd ..read more

This is the eighth in a series of posts on the reasons I will not be voting to return the former president to the White House. My focus here is not to support his opponent but instead to explain why I believe that Donald Trump is manifestly unqualified for the role. My dad didn't read much growing up - at least not willingly. (I've come to believe he had undiagnosed dyslexia, which made reading a chore rather than a joy.) But there was one book he read in school that he mentioned enjoying - George Orwell's Animal Farm. I distinctly remember him quoting from it to justify his role as the key ..read more

When Wave 1 of the new era of Heroscape released in August, my sons & I put out a rather long post to answer a plethora of questions about Heroscape: Age of Annihilation. I thought it fitting that we continue the format to preview/review the Wave 2 material that is being released this month. Once again, let me note for those of you who’ve been living under a gaming rock for 20 years that Heroscape is a miniatures skirmish combat game played on a board constructed out of plastic terrain pieces. Since the theme is a battle for dominance in world where the Valkyrie Generals can recruit wa ..read more